Johw agnew



UNITED STATES lPATENT OFFICE,

JOHN AGNEW, ,OF` COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 2ll,305, dated August 3l, 1858,

To all whom, t may'concel-lt: I A Beit known that I, JOHN AGNnW, of Columbia, in the district of -Richland and State of South Carolina, have invented a new and Improved Coupling or Fastening for Securing Together the Ends of Metal Bale-Hoops; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, ref-- erence being had to the annexed drawings, making apart of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of' my inven-. tion. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the,A

Same.

Similar letters of reference, indicate corre-l sponding parts in thetwo ilgures'.

This 'invention consists in having Vva smal' metal casting with a longitudinal slot in it of dou-ble-taperi'orin, as hereinafter shown, and having the ends of the hoops doubled or bent over in lo'op`form, so that the same may bi-nd 'for becomewedgedjin the casting, forming a perfect coupling or fastening, as vhereinafter described.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

I A represents a metal socket ot' cast metalat least that would be the cheapest and mostI preferable material. The socket may be about three-quarters of an inch in length and a trifle wider than the hoops the ends of which are to be fastened together. This socket has a lon gitudinal slot or opening, a, in it, which slot Theidevice is used as follows: The hoops .are placed in the press-box, as usual, and when the article is sufficiently compressed the ends B B of each hoop are passed through the openv ing a of its socket A. The ends are then bent by means of pliers in loop form or doubled, as shown at b, and when the bale thus bound is relieved of the' pressure it wilhexpand sufficiently to bind the loops in the enlarged ends of the opening a. The loops b of course form four thicknesses ot' hoop, which form'too thick a mass to bedrawn through thev narrow central part of the opening a, and consequently they will become wedged in theoriiices of the opening a. Ths'wn be clearly understood by retepring to the drawings. y

This invention is extremely simple, and may be constructed "at a triiling cost. The fastening formed by it cannotpossibly fail, and the connection/may be made with thegr'eatest facility.

I am aware that the ends of bale-hoops have been passed through slotted plates and bent so as to forni' hooks, but this plan differs essentiallyfroin mine. In the former case the bent ends are liable to break oil, as the strain is sustained by a single thickness of hoop, whereas in my invention the loops, which do not servev in the capacity of hooks, but rather of wedges, are Well calculated to resist any strain to which they may be subjected.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The socket A, provided with the 'double-tzr per opening a, in connection with the loops b b at the ends B B of the hoops, substantially as and for the purposes'set forth. l

n JOHN AGN EW.

Witnesses: l

J oHN M. MoDoNALn, .Turns G. KENNETH. 

